British footprint
The rise of Datsun and its Nissan relatives traces back to the early 1930s, a time when global fame for these cars was far from assured. The company introduced a modest Datsun Type 11, essentially a simplified copy of the British Austin Seven. This mass-produced model also appeared in Germany as the Dixi, marking the start of a long, interlinked journey with European design. The Datsun engine followed a familiar English pattern but had a displacement of 0.5 liters, unlike the 0.75-liter Austin. The move was driven by Japanese regulations that allowed cars with engines up to 0.5 liters to be driven without a driver’s license. By 1933, however, engines of 0.75 liters began to appear in Datsuns, up to the Type 17. World events, including the Sino-Japanese conflict, led to a sharp drop in civilian production in Japan during the late 1930s. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Datsun type 11 provided a glimpse of a global pattern: Japanese automakers absorbing and modifying British and European design ideas to forge their own path.
From England to France
Only in the early 1950s did Nissan resume passenger car production, and the first revival leaned on the British brand Austin once more. Initially, sedans were assembled from imported parts while domestic component manufacture gradually strengthened the supply chain. The British Austin A50 Cambridge also found its way into Japanese assembly lines. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Even the Datsun compact 110/112/113 series, which began production in 1955, carried the imprint of British technology. The Datsun 310 Bluebird preserved much of the Austin influence, and the more robust Datsun 310 Bluebird with engines around 1 to 1.2 liters bore a striking resemblance to the Austin A50 Cambridge. The Prinz Skyline emerged soon after, eventually becoming Nissan valuable in its export strategy. The first Nissan Skyline, launched in 1957 with a 1.5-liter engine producing about 60 horsepower, carried the Prinz badge before Nissan took full branding. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
The French Simca Vedette also shaped Japanese design thinking. In outward appearance, the Vedette’s sedan style served as a template that was echoed in some Japanese designs, and both nations embraced a distinctly American aesthetic that was fashionable at the time. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Pajero didn’t work right away
In 1917, Mitsubishi’s shipbuilding division produced the first A-index model, drawing inspiration from the Italian FIAT Tipo 3. The aim was a luxury car for high officials, but the project proved too expensive or the officials could not justify the cost, so the idea did not continue. The Mitsubishi PX33, a groundbreaking original, remained a prototype for some time.
In 1937, Mitsubishi unveiled a highly advanced PX33 with a light, high-end body and four-wheel drive. Such machines were rare even in the United States, and similar efforts began to appear in the Soviet Union a few years later. The vehicle was clearly intended for military use, and a 6.7-liter direct-injection diesel engine was developed for potential applications, a concept later echoed in the USSR with the T-34 tank. Still, the early Pajero lineage would take decades to become a widely recognized SUV, with Mitsubishi’s success arriving much later. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Road to the Crown (car)
The road started with the Toyota AA in 1937, as Toyota began its automotive venture with a large sedan that resembled a simplified version of the American Chrysler Airflow. The Airflow, which inspired Japanese stylists, also influenced Volvo’s design choices, though it did not achieve lasting commercial success in the United States. The Toyota AA featured a 6-cylinder 3.4-liter engine delivering about 62 horsepower, underscoring that the era was not yet aligned with a robust passenger car market in Japan. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
First Toyota Crown
Postwar, in 1955, the first generation Toyota Crown arrived. It carried a 1.5-liter, 60-horsepower engine and bore a visual resemblance to the Vendome model produced by Ford’s French arm. The Vendome was larger and powered by a V8, adding to the sense of cross-pollination between Japanese and European design schools. Notably, the Crown’s police version was known as Patrol, and Toyota Crown became one of the early Japanese models to be exported widely. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Clones of “Uncle Willis”
The Willys MB, used by the US Army, left a lasting impact on the global automotive scene. Licensed production spread to several countries, and it served as a blueprint for the first Land Rover and for early Japanese off-road vehicles like the Nissan Patrol and Toyota Land Cruiser. The Willys model, introduced in 1951, provided a platform that allowed the Japanese designs to flourish with more powerful engines, notably a six-cylinder configuration. Nissan Patrol of 1951 and Toyota Land Cruiser of 1951 featured engines around 3.7 liters and 3.4 liters respectively, and each utilized ready-made cargo powertrains for rugged duty. Civil demand for robust off-road capability rose gradually after initial military use. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Nissan Patrol, 1951
The military sector remained the primary market for these early SUVs, with civilian recognition only arriving later as the models proved their reliability and adaptability. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Zaporozhets in Japanese
Postwar Japan faced economic constraints, and many companies pushed affordable, easy-to-operate small cars powered by two-cylinder air-cooled engines around 0.36 liters. Mazda and Subaru began their journeys with such models, and the concept of rear-engined cars bore a family resemblance to the Volkswagen Beetle and various European minicars, even echoing our Zaporozhets and similar motorized carriages. In 1960, Mitsubishi released the 500, a slightly larger and more capable model with a two-cylinder air-cooled engine of 0.5 liters delivering about 25 horsepower. That design, in many ways, resembled the familiar Zaporozhets ZAZ-965 in its appearance, highlighting the era’s shared engineering instincts. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
Mitsubishi 500 – Japanese Zaporozhets.
ticket to the world
The first Japanese cars began appearing in Asia and Australia in the early 1960s. By 1964, European markets started accepting imports, and the United States slowly began to embrace Japanese vehicles toward the end of the decade. The growth in production and markets contributed to a broader presence on showroom floors and roads worldwide as technology improved and reliability increased. (Archive: Behind the wheel)
- The aluminum threshold platforms from the Turkish company Can Otomotiv help spare the thresholds and give the car its own character.
- Driving can also be read on Viber.
Photo: from the archive Behind the wheel